Analyzing Our World Using GIS

3 Anita M. Palmer

Roger Palmer

Lyn Malone

Christine L. Voigt

Analyzing Our World

Using GIS

ESRI Press, 380 New York Street, Redlands, California 92373-8100

Copyright © 2008 ESRI

All rights reserved. First edition 200812 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Printed in the United States of America

The information contained in this document is the exclusive property of ESRI unless otherwise noted. This work is protected under United States copyright law and the copyright laws of the given countries of origin and applicable international laws, treaties, and/or con-ventions. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho-tocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as expressly permitted in writing by ESRI. All requests should be sent to Attention: Contracts and Legal Services Manager, ESRI, 380 New York Street, Redlands, California 92373-8100, USA.

The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.

U.S. Government Restricted/Limited Rights: Any software, documentation, and/or data delivered hereunder is subject to the terms of the License Agreement. In no event shall the U.S. Government acquire greater than restricted/limited rights. At a minimum, use, dupli-cation, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR §52.227-14 Alternates I, II, and III (JUN 1987); FAR §52.227-19 (JUN 1987) and/or FAR §12.211/12.212 (Commercial Technical Data/Computer Software); and DFARS §252.227-7015 (NOV 1995) (Technical Data) and/or DFARS §227.7202 (Computer Software), as applicable. Contractor/Manufacturer is ESRI, 380 New York Street, Redlands, California 92373-8100, USA.

ESRI, the ESRI Press logo, www.esri.com, ArcMap, ArcGIS, GIS Day, ArcView, and ArcCatalog are trademarks, registered trademarks, or ser-vice marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products men-tioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

Ask for ESRI Press titles at your local bookstore or order by calling 1-800-447-9778. You can also shop online at www.esri.com/esripress. Outside the United States, contact your local ESRI distributor.

ESRI Press titles are distributed to the trade by the following:

In North America:Ingram Publisher ServicesToll-free telephone: (800) 648-3104Toll-free fax: (800) 838-1149E-mail: [email protected]

In the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East:Transatlantic Publishers Group Ltd.Telephone: 44 20 7373 2515Fax: 44 20 7244 1018E-mail: [email protected]

Cover design and production Jennifer CampbellInterior design Jennifer CampbellInterior production Savitri Brant

Image editing Jay LoteriaEditing Claudia Naber

Copyediting and proofreading Tiffany Wilkerson and Julia NelsonPermissions Kathleen Morgan

Printing coordination Cliff Crabbe and Lilia Arias

On the coverWorld map by Michael Law.

Cover data from USGS National Earthquake Information Center; ArcAtlas: Our Earth, courtesy of Data+ and ESRI; and Data & Maps, courtesy of ArcWorld Supplement and National Geophysical Data Center.

1

IntroductionAbout the lessonsAnalyzing Our World Using GIS comprises five modules and each module contains two lessons with connecting themes. All lessons are intended for high school and college students who have had previous experience using GIS.

How this book is organizedThis book is written for teachers and consists of the following components:

• A lesson overview with a summary, materials needed, estimated time, learning objectives, a list of the main GIS tools and functions encountered in the activity, and key curriculum standards covered.

• Notes about teaching the lesson, including how to introduce the lesson, conduct the GIS activity, conclude the lesson, and extend the lesson.

• Answer keys for the student answer sheets. • Supplemental worksheets.

The accompanying student workbook contains the student activity sheets (these are the step-by-step GIS exercises), answer sheets, and supplements that students will need to do the lessons. You have several options for providing these materials to your students: you can order copies of the student workbook for your class; you can photocopy the student workbook pages that come with the book; or you can print them out from the files on the CD.

The software DVD and data and resources CD The Data and Resources CD has two main folders that can be installed separately: a teacher resources folder and a student data folder.

The teacher resources folder (OurWorld3_teacher) includes the following:

• Digital documents (PDF format) of the student activity sheets and supplements required by the lessons.

• Digital documents (Microsoft Word format) of the student answer sheets. These are provided in Word format so that you can add your own questions if desired. Optionally, you can ask students

2

Our World GIS Education: Analyzing Our World Using GIS

to type their answers. (This option does require screen space for the GIS windows and students will have to navigate back and forth between several programs at once.)

• Digital documents (PDF format) of some of the teacher materials in this book, such as answer keys.

The student data folder (OurWorld3) includes the lesson data that needs to be installed on student computers or in a network location where students can access (and modify) the data. The data is organized by module. Also included in the folder structure is a StudentWork folder that is initially empty; it can be used as a location for students to store their maps, data, and other documents as they work on the activities.

Where to beginWe recommend you do the following before using this book in class:

1. Finish reading this section and skim through the book and the student workbook to locate the teacher materials for each lesson, student activities, answer sheets, answer keys, and supplements.

2. Install and register the software on your computer and the student computers. (Refer to “Setting up the software and data” later in this section, and the detailed software installation guide at the back of the book.)

3. Install the teacher resources and student data on your computer from the Data and Resources CD. Install the data on student computers. (Refer to the detailed data installation guide at the back of the book.)

4. Look over the table of contents or peruse the lessons and choose a module or lesson that fits into your curriculum.

5. Work through the lesson or module you choose by yourself. In this way, you will be better equipped to respond to any questions your students have.

6. Work through the module with your students.

ModulesYou and your students are free to explore the lessons in any order. You can teach each module or lesson independently of the others, and you can tailor the material to suit the specific needs of your class and curriculum.

In a number of the lessons, students will download data from the Internet. Due to its dynamic nature, the URLs listed in this book may have changed and the graphics shown may be out of date. If the URLs do not work, get an updated link at the book’s Web site, www.esri.com/ourworldgiseducation.

Curriculum standards Each lesson teaches skills corresponding to National Geography Standards (Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards 1994). The applicable standards for high school (grades 9–12) are listed in each lesson overview. Matrices matching all lessons in the book to the National Geography Standards and to the National Science Education, National Technology Standards, and National Mathematics Standards are also provided where applicable.

3

Introduction

Reference handoutsThe handouts “ArcMap toolbar reference,” “Extensions toolbar quick reference,” “ArcMap zoom and pan tools,” “Making quality maps,” and “GIS terms” can be used with any of the lessons. Consider giving these handouts to your students with module 1 and having the students save them for use with later lessons. The handouts can be printed from the Data and Resources CD. (They are also located at the back of the teacher and student workbook.)

The companion Web siteThe book’s Web site, www.esri.com/ourworldgiseducation, places a variety of GIS resources and other helpful information at your fingertips. For example, you’ll want to check the Web site’s “Resources by Module” section for specific resources, Web links, or changes when you get ready to use a particular lesson. Solutions to common problems and any significant changes or corrections to the book will also be posted here.

Taking it furtherAfter your students have completed the lessons you have selected, you can do the following:

• Challenge them with ideas from the “Extending the Lesson” portion of the teacher materials. Use these extensions to point curious students in new directions where they know something about relationships between variables and can come up with solutions without being told every step. “Extending the Lesson” ideas are particularly useful for getting your students to be independent investigators.

• Challenge them with lessons from the next level in the Our World GIS Education series: Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS.

• Have them put together a profile of your community and post it on the ESRI Community Atlas Web site: www.esri.com/communityatlas. Your school may be able to earn software through this program.

• Find out who’s doing what with GIS near you and contact them for ideas. The following resources can help:• ESRIGISEducationCommunity,http://edcommunity.esri.com• ESRIEducationUserConference,www.esri.com/educ.• GISDayWebsite,www.gisday.com• GIS.comWebsite,www.gis.com

• Invite a GIS specialist from your city government or other local organization to do a presentation on GIS for your class.

• Make GIS a permanent part of your classroom. Be sure to check with your district or state technology coordinator before you purchase an ArcGIS license for your school or classroom; a districtwide or statewide software license may already cover your school.

4


About the software and data

ArcGIS Desktop softwareThe lessons in this book use an ArcView license level of ArcGIS Desktop software. ArcGIS Desktop includes two applications: ArcMap and ArcCatalog. ArcMap is used to display and edit geographic data, perform GIS analysis, and create professional-quality maps, graphs, and reports. ArcCatalog is designed for browsing, managing, and documenting geographic data. In this book’s lessons, students interact only with ArcMap, but you may find it useful to browse or preview the data using ArcCatalog as you prepare to teach the lessons.

Use ArcCatalog to manage your geographic data.

5

Introduction

Setting up the software and dataThis book comes with a DVD and a CD. The DVD contains a one-year single use trial edition of ArcView 9 for Microsoft Windows.

Note: If you’re new to GIS, don’t let these names confuse you. Remember, ArcView refers to the license level and ArcGIS is the name of the software. In the ArcView license, ArcGIS is composed of ArcMap and ArcCatalog.

The CD contains the data, student activity sheets, and other documents required for the lessons. Refer to the installation guides at the back of the book for detailed instructions on how to install the software and the data. The data license agreement is found at the back of the book.

If you do not feel comfortable installing programs on your computer or your students’ computers, please be sure to ask your school’s technology specialist for assistance. The software and data on these disks need to be installed on your computer and all computers that the students will use to complete the GIS investigations. You may decide to install the student data on a school network drive but make it “read only.” If you do choose this option, be aware that in several lessons stu-dents will need to make copies of the original data in order to manipulate it. They will do this by exporting the data to their folder and making it “read-write” so they can manipulate it. The teacher resources should be installed on your computer, not on the student computers.

Once the GIS software is installed there are a few things to do before the software is ready for students to use in the lessons.

Desktop shortcut. Consider creating an ArcMap shortcut icon on the desktop of each student’s computer so that students can quickly locate and start the ArcMap program. If students will be using ArcCatalog, create an ArcCatalog shortcut icon as well.

Connection to the data. Most exercises instruct students to add data to their map documents at some point. To navigate to the exercise data, a connection to the drive or folder where the data is stored is necessary. You may want to make sure this folder connection is set up in advance on each student’s computer, or you may direct students to create the folder connection themselves during the exercise. If you choose to create the folder connection yourself, “Installing the data and resources” at the back of the book explains how to do this using ArcCatalog. Otherwise, you can also create folder connections by following these steps:

1. Click the Add Data button.2. In the Add Data dialog box, click the Connect to Folder button. 3. Navigate to the OurWorld3 folder. Click OK. The connection is added to the list of locations in

the Add Data dialog box, making it easy to access.

Student work folders. For lessons in this book, you will need to set up student work folders where students can download data from the Internet, manipulate it, and save their work. Students will need to have full rights and access to this folder. The activity instructions usually suggest that students include their initials in the name of the file they are saving, and advise them to ask their teacher where to save their work.

File extensions. Instructions and graphics assume that students can see the file extensions, for example Global1.mxd or Cities.lyr. If your students cannot see file extensions (e.g., they see Global1 or Cities), you can either turn off this preference or have students ignore references to file

6


extensions. Layer files, which sometimes have the same name as their data sources, are stored in separate folders to avoid confusion when file names are hidden. (To show file extensions, start ArcCatalog and go to Tools, Options. Click the General tab and uncheck the Hide file extensions box.)

Moving or deleting data. The installation program installs the data for all modules. If for some reason you decide to remove part of the data, be sure to keep entire module folders intact. For example, if you plan to teach only lesson 1 of module 2, you should keep the entire module 2 folder. Lessons within a module often share some data, and map documents are set up to find data in specific locations within a module folder.

MetadataMetadata—information about the data—describes the GIS data provided on the Data and Resources CD. The metadata includes a description of the data, where it came from, a definition for each attribute field, and other useful information. This metadata can be viewed in ArcMap or in ArcCatalog.

To view metadata using ArcMap, right-click a layer in the table of contents and select Data > View Metadata. You can view information for each field in the layer by clicking on the Attributes tab in the Metadata window and then clicking on the field name. The default style sheet, FGDC ESRI, is satisfactory for most purposes, but if you want to view additional metadata detail, select ESRI Classic from the style sheet list.

Troubleshooting ArcGISExercise instructions are written assuming the user interface and user preferences have the default settings. Unless students are working with a fresh installation of the software, however, chances are they will encounter some differences between the instructions and what they see on their screen. This is because ArcMap stores settings from a previous session. This could vary the size of the ArcMap window, the width of the table of contents, which toolbars are visible, where toolbars are located, or whether or not the map scale changes when the window is resized.

Normally such differences will not be a problem, but you should be prepared to help individual students if they question an instruction or want to know why their ArcMap looks different than their neighbor’s. A list of commonly encountered troubles and their solutions can be found on this book’s Web site, www.esri.com/ourworldgiseducation. You may want to print out this list for reference.

If you have questions related to installing the trial software or want to report a problem or error with the lesson materials in this book, you can send e-mail to [email protected].

7

Introduction

Geographic inquiry and GISGeography is the study of the world and all that is in it: its peoples, its places, its environments, and all the connections among them. Knowing where something is located, how its location influ-ences its characteristics, and how its location influences relationships with other phenomena is the foundation of geographic thinking. Geographic inquiry asks you to see the world and all that is in it in spatial terms. Like other research methods, it also asks you to explore, analyze, and act upon the things you find.

The geographic inquiry process

Step What to do

1. Ask a geographic question Ask a question about spatial relationships in the world around you

2. Acquire geographic resources Identify data and information that you need to answer your question

3. Explore geographic data Turn the data into maps, tables, and graphs, and look for patterns and relationships

4. Analyze geographic information Determine what the patterns and relationships mean with respect to your question

5. Act on geographic knowledge Use the results of your work to educate, make a decision, or solve a problem

The five steps of geographic inquiry are addressed in detail in module 1, lesson 1. In the other les-sons, these steps are implicit, and you will naturally integrate geographic inquiry into the process of doing the exercises throughout the book.

What is GIS? Chances are that GIS technology has already touched your life. If you flipped on a light switch today, chances are that GIS was used to help make sure the electricity was there to light up the room. When you drove down a highway, chances are that GIS was used to keep track of the signs and streets along the way. If you received a delivery, chances are that GIS helped the driver find the way to your house. If you bought fresh vegetables, chances are that GIS helped manage the land and calculate the fertilizer needed for the crop. If you looked at a map on the Internet, chances are that GIS had a hand in that too.

A geographic information system (GIS) uses computers and software to organize, develop, and communicate geographic knowledge. In simple terms, GIS takes the numbers and words from the rows and columns in databases and spreadsheets and puts them on a map.

8


Visualizing informationThe vast amounts of information available today require powerful tools like GIS to help people determine what it all means. GIS can make thematic maps (maps coded by value) to help illustrate patterns. To explore cities at risk for an earthquake, you might first make a map of where earth-quakes have already occurred (see page 9). You could then code the earthquakes by magnitude. You might use one color for those that were strong and a second color for those that were weak. By analyzing the patterns, you will be able to find an answer to your question about cities at risk. You will pursue this inquiry in module 2.

9

Introduction

Putting it all togetherGIS is a tool that can simplify and accelerate geographic investigations. Like any tool, GIS has no answers packed inside it. Instead, for those who use the tool and the process of geographic inquiry, it provides a means to discover pathways through our remarkable world of unending geographic questions.

10


Standard

Module 1 Module 2 Module 3 Module 4 Module 5

L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2

1 How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technolo-gies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective

• • • • • • • • •

2 How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context

3 How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface

• •

4 The physical and human characteristics of places • • • • • •

5 That people create regions to interpret Earth’s complexity •

6 How culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regions

7 The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface • • •

8 The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface

9 The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth’s surface

•

10 The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaics

11 The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth’s surface

12 The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement •

13 How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth’s surface

• •

14 How human actions modify the physical environment

15 How physical systems affect human systems • • •

16 The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources

17 How to apply geography to interpret the past •

18 How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future • • •

Correlation to National Geography Standards

Source: Geography Education Standards Projects. 1994. Geography for Life: National Geography Standards 1994.

Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Research and Exploration.

11

Introduction

Correlation to National Science Education Standards

Standard


L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2

Unifying Concepts and Processes

A Science as inquiry • •B Physical science •C Life science •D Earth and space science • • • •E Science and technology •F Science in personal and social perspectives • • •G History and nature of science

Correlation to National Technology Standards

Standard


L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L21 • • • • • • • • • •2 • •3 • • • • • • • • • •4 • • • • • • • • • •5 • • • • •6 • • • • • • • • • •

Correlation to National Mathematics Standards

Standard


L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L2Number and operations •Algebra • • • • •Geometry

Measurement

Data analysis and probability • • • • • •Problem solving •Reasoning and proof

Communication • •Connections • •Representation • • • • •

Standards reprinted with permission from National Science Education Standards. Copyright 1996 by the National Academy

of Sciences. Courtesy of the National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.

Source: National Education Technology Standards for Students. 2007. International Society for Technology in Education.

Source: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 2007.

13

MODULE 1Current issuesLesson 1: Mapping U.N. millennium goalsIn this lesson, students will get experience converting raw data into GIS data. After the students add tabular data to a map, they will be able to visualize the United Nations’ millennium goals as maps and graphs, discerning patterns and drawing conclusions. Ultimately this lesson has an economic and humanitarian focus as students work to understand and improve education in poor countries.

Lesson 2: The local traffic reportStudents will use the Internet to acquire commuter data. By exploring this data through GIS, they will construct a thematic map for the United States that displays hub cities’ commuter data and compare commuter patterns in large metropolitan areas. Students will use the American Forest Climate Change Calculator to calculate CO

2 emissions caused by various sized automobiles and

how many newly planted trees it would take to sequester those emissions.

To map and analyze gender disparity in education, students create a scatter plot showing illiteracy rates and the number of

males who completed fifth grade.

15

Module 1: Lesson 1

Mapping U.N. millennium goals

Lesson overviewIn this lesson, students will get experience converting raw data into GIS data. After the students add tabular data to a map, they will be able to visualize the United Nations’ millennium goals as maps and graphs, discerning patterns and drawing conclusions. Ultimately this lesson has an economic and humanitarian focus as students work to understand and improve education in poor countries.

Estimated timeTwo 45-minute class periods

MaterialsThe student worksheet files can be found on the Data and Resources CD. Install the teacher resources folder on your computer to access them.

Location: OurWorld3_teacher\Module1\Lesson1

• Student activity: M1L1_student.pdf• Student supplement: M1L1_supplement.pdf• Student answer sheet: M1L1_student_answer_sheet.doc

Additional materials

• Paper and supplies necessary for each student to produce one map layout and one descriptive paragraph

SoftwareIn addition to ArcView, students will need the following:

• Internet browser with Internet access• Adobe Acrobat Reader• Microsoft Notepad

16


Mo

du

le 1

: Lesson 1

M L

ObjectivesStudents will be able to do the following:

• Create a demographic database and join the table to a country geodatabase• Show which regions meet the requirement for a development grant for the U.N. Millennium

Development Goals

GIS tools and functions• Extract text from PDF files• Compare the raw data to a comma-delimited file• Use a basic text editor (Microsoft Notepad) to format a database• Use Find and Replace functions to format a comma-delimited file• Add value to existent layers by joining them with data of interest• Create choropleth maps • Perform sequential queries• Copy and paste layers for multiple representations of data• Create layouts • Search for correlating patterns• Follow the geographic inquiry process, the scientific method, and deductive reasoning

National Geography Standards

Geography Standard High school

1 How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information

How to use technologies to represent and interpret Earth’s physical and human systems

3 How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface

How to apply concepts and models of spatial organization to make decisions

9 The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth’s surface

Trends in world population numbers and patterns

18 How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future

How to use geographic knowledge, skills, and perspectives to analyze problems and make decisions

Mo

du

le 1

: Le

sson

1

17

Mapping U.N. millenium goals

Teaching the lessonThe United Nations (U.N.) is committed to improving poverty conditions throughout the world. Toward that end, it developed the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Students will go to the U.N. Web site to learn more about the MDGs.

The United Nations keeps statistics on factors that impact living conditions around the world. The data that it has compiled would provide much useful information in a GIS, but it is not in the format that ArcGIS can use. Students will learn about data “in the real world” and be able to use that data in a GIS.

If you do not have access to the Internet or the lab isn’t available for two days close enough together to make the exercise practical, you have several options to shorten the exercise:

1. If your Internet connection is limited or the link to the U.N. data is lost, use the WorldEdStats05.pdf document stored in the OurWorld3\Mod1\Data\Tables folder. Begin the student activity at step 2.

2. If your students get lost creating their own table of data or you need to cut 20 minutes from the lab, use the completed RegionalEdSt05.txt table in the OurWorld3\Mod1\ Data\Tables folder. Proceed in the student activity from step 5.

3. If you have only a single day in the lab, start ArcMap and navigate to the OurWorld3\Mod1 folder. Open MappingMDGs.mxd and proceed with the exercise from step 7.

This book uses the geographic inquiry process to address problems or situations that geography and GIS particularly can address. While not unique to geography, the inquiry process is the basis of learning in all disciplines. We have organized these lessons using the steps roughly in the order described by the icon shown below. In practice, the process proceeds haphazardly but usually includes all of these steps. When new ideas are reported to a group of peer experts, this format is used much more formally to explain the discovery.

Whenever someone notices something that can’t be explained by current theories, a question is raised. Alternate explanations must be constructed to explain the phenomena better. Data is then gathered to test if the new explanation works for many situations. The proof of the explanation comes from exploring and analyzing data gathered in these experiments or surveys. The process of communicating these ideas to peers is one form of geographic action. Other forms of action can include doing community-based projects to respond to a situation or to educate others. Every one of you makes choices—your action might be to shop wisely to encourage conservation or it may be who you vote for in an election. It could be something more long-term, such as what you do for a career. Whatever your choices, this inquiry process will serve you well in both your academic and civic life.

For more information about the geographic inquiry process, see the front matter of the book.

18


Mo

du

le 1

: Lesson 1

M L

Introducing the lessonStart the lesson by choosing 25 students to represent an average group of people from Malawi in Northern Africa. Have them move into smaller groups to demonstrate the following statistics:

• One-fifth of the women in the group will not survive childbirth.• Two or three of your children will die at birth.• Another five will die by the time they are five years old.• Half won’t finish fifth grade.• Eight may take some high school.• Four of the men can’t read.• Seven of the women can’t read.• This group of 25 would have to subsist on what they could raise on 7 acres of land (the size of

most school grounds) without grocery stores or malls.• By the time you reach college age, you will have reached half your expected lifespan. • The average person of any age will make $1.80 a day on which to live.

Cold and sobering as these facts are, they should give the students a feel for challenges the United Nations faces as it seeks solutions to improve economic conditions in many countries of the world.

Engage students in a discussion on how elementary education will make a difference in these situations. How does elementary education improve people’s ability to start businesses, produce food, manufacture goods at a plant, sell goods in a store, or provide services?

What have your students already learned in their years at school that might help? Have they learned things about how to get fresh water, raise food, find work, discover what they are good at doing, stretch natural resources where there are few available, or even to seek further learning?

Student activityAdhering to the following points will ensure success when students are creating their own data:

• When students open the PDF of the most recent U.N. statistics, the Adobe Reader interface can vary from version to version and sometimes tools are turned off to prevent misuse. Double-check ahead of time to verify that PDF readers are available. You may need to help students find the text extraction tool.

• Students may need help finding Microsoft Notepad the first time using it. It is typically accessed through the Start menu. Choose Programs then Accessories. Do not use any other text editors for this lesson; Notepad successfully eliminates formatting characters, such as tabs, that may be hidden.

• As they format data, students should check their work along the way. Opening the data document in Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program helps students see formatting errors. Remind your students to save their work as a .txt file and not just accept the default .xls format. While ArcGIS reads other formats, such as .xls and .dbf4, saving as anything other than .txt leaves more potential for incompatible characters in the file that are harder to spot when working in ArcGIS. The following few rules are critical to follow when joining table data to geography files:

1. Keep the headings to ten characters or less. 2. Only use letters or underscores in the header. 3. Numbers may be used but not to begin the header name. 4. In text files, make sure there are no extra spaces at the end of the file.

Mo

du

le 1

: Le

sson

1

19


5. These are acceptable column headings: FifthGr, Illit, Salary, Pct_Second, PopOver65.

6. These headings will cause problems in joining: 5thGrade, AdultIlliteracy, Salary$, %_Secondary, Pop>65.

Concluding the lesson Conclude the lesson with a short discussion. Ask your students what they think of doing the work of putting together datasets. Ask whether their work paid off after the data was ready for analysis. Ask your students if they can imagine how much work it may have taken to put together the document they downloaded.

The goal to monitor these statistics has been around since the 1960s. By the 1980s, committees still gathered this information by mail. Through the 1990s, the forms were computerized, but the yearly reports still required that several people from each of the 250 member states to send in the informa-tion to a central office. There, several committee members worked for months to analyze and verify all the figures so that others could spend at most a few hours examining it. The power of people working as a team to compile data allows students to add to the discussion of solving many of the world’s problems.

Extending the lesson Challenge students to do the following:

• Learn more about building datasets through additional hands-on GIS activities or classroom demonstrations: 1. Use the table of socioeconomic data that has been provided in the module 1 data folder

(Country07_Econ) to practice joining and exporting data. Right-click the layer, choose Data, then View Metadata to learn about the fields available for investigation. Map the data and further analyze the impact of gender education inequality on national economies.

2. If your students enjoyed creating and looking for patterns in databases about world health, culture, or economies, point them to www.nationmaster.com to create an atlas of world statistics to use in your classroom. These Web pages can be highlighted and copied into Notepad (just as they did with the PDF files), verified in Excel, and joined to country layers for use in many lessons.

3. Download, map, and analyze additional broad socioeconomic data from www.worldmapper.org. This site allows you to download the data in table format ready to be joined to any country layer as students did in this exercise.

• Explore where and how unequal educational opportunities for boys and girls influences socio-economic factors. Use the data from this lesson and calculate the gender gap in education data following the instructions in the supplemental activity for extending the lesson. (See the student workbook or module 1 teacher resources on the CD.)

• Better understand why gender equality is important to the U.N. by looking for other socio-economic factors that match the patterns of gender-based education opportunities. Students will need to complete the previous extension idea to accomplish this one. Show correlations between economic development and the gender gap in education following the instructions in the second part of the supplemental activity for extending the lesson. (See the student workbook or module 1 teacher resources on the CD.)

20


Mo

du

le 1

: Lesson 1

M L

• Further analyze the correlations that students observed through visual analysis of their maps. For instance, students can export their tables to Microsoft Excel and calculate correlation coefficients between variables. Challenge them to find three statistics highly correlated to the completion of elementary education. Or, students can create scatterplot graphs in ArcMap showing such infor-mation as elementary completion rates compared to other variables. The closer the points are to a single line, the higher the correlation between the two variables. Suggest that they exclude the null and –99 data values so that their graph shows the relationships well.

Mo

du

le 1

: Le

sson

1

21


Answer keyQ1. If the primary fight is against poverty and hunger, why do you think the U.N. is pushing so

strongly for primary education for everyone? Family members who can read and write, at even just a basic level, are better able to find work or create the means for support.

Q2. How does education influence other quality-of-life factors around the world? People with basic education have more opportunities to work for others or create solutions for them-selves. There is a high correlation between education and life expectancy, and average income, and a high inverse correlation with child mortality, and the number of children in a family. Studies show that people with basic education use land in more sustainable ways.

Q3. What format differences do you see between the data in the PDF and the comma-delimited file? In the comma-delimited file, spacing is condensed, commas split the columns, there are no frills or colors, and the headers are unformatted.

Q4. What column represents illiteracy percentages for males? IllitpctM

Q5. Why do you suppose illiteracy follows these geographic regions? Ideas may include: illiteracy is higher in remote areas; illiteracy is higher in tropical climates; the large population in Brazil’s mega-cities may contribute to high illiteracy numbers.

Q6. Does female illiteracy follow the same geographic pattern as male illiteracy? Yes, the trends are similar in that countries in higher latitudes have somewhat higher literacy. Or, no, the trends for female literacy are worse than the male patterns in the high-altitude, landlocked countries of Peru, Bolivia, and Uruguay.

Q7. Where are some notable geographic differences between female and male illiteracy? The higher altitude, landlocked countries have the highest illiteracy for females. It appears that illiteracy decreases as you move away from the equator.

Q8. How does the scale (size of the numbers) between female and male illiteracy compare? Females usually, but not always, experience higher illiteracy rates.

Q9. How many countries reported to the U.N. statistics for students who made it through the fifth grade? Roughly what percentage of the total countries is this? 106 out of 249, or roughly 40 percent.

Q10. Write down the mean value for countries that reported statistics about students who made it through the fifth grade. Males: 79.7 percent; females: 80.0 percent

Q11. How does life expectancy change as you move down the table? Life expectancy generally decreases as the percent of students attending fifth grade decreases.

Q12. What kind of relationship do these two variables have: direct or inverse? Attending fifth grade and life expectancy are directly related.

Q13. Can you see a relationship between the columns for finishing fifth grade and illiteracy? Is it direct or inverse? These variables are inversely related.

Q14. What do all the –99 dots at the left side of the graph indicate? These are the countries that were in the report but haven’t measured or reported this particular data.

Q15. What do the points at 0,0 indicate? If a country or area had not been in the report, you would not have assigned it the –99. ArcGIS added the zeros when the data was exported.

22


Mo

du

le 1

: Lesson 1

M L

Q16. Describe in your own words what a direct relationship graph looks like. When one variable increases, the other does as well. When the two variables are graphed on the X and Y axis, they make a line that rises to the right.

Q17. Do you have any ideas about what could be shortening lives in these countries? Many of these countries are in the tropics and have increased exposure to some diseases. Some are isolated or have transitioning economies that don’t provide necessities such as balanced diets or medical services. Other issues can include social structures that reinforce poverty or corruption, civil unrest, or greater exposure to natural hazards. (Note: Students will need to do research about these countries to see which factors are at play.)

Q18. Do you have any ideas why the people in these nations live longer? Most of the terrain in these countries is grassland. Nomadic lifestyles, agricultural dependence, and less avail-ability to mechanized transportation keep populations active and healthy and don’t demand as much education.

Q19. Write a short description of how universal primary education benefits a country. The data shows that typically, exposure to education also results in increases in life expectancies, decreases in infant mortalities, decreases in maternal mortality, and decreases in birth rates.

Q20. What data will you use to show how well countries are addressing their peoples’ need for education? PRIMPCT, G5PCT, or SECPCT for males or females or some combination of these.

Q21. What criteria in these datasets will help you focus your foundation’s efforts to increase secondary education opportunities? A good primary education is required before investments in secondary will pay off, so students should find where G5PCT is the highest.

Q22. Which ArcMap tool best sorts and selects countries according to particular criteria? Select by Attributes.

Q23. What are the names of the countries that met your final criteria? Using female illiteracy: Senegal, Niger, Burundi, Tanzania Using male illiteracy: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Burundi

Q24. What is the physical geography in and around these countries? These countries surround the tropical wet areas of Africa. They contain large grassland areas that are good for raising crops and livestock. Terrain varies from the flatter plains of the Sahel in the north to the much more rugged Great Rift Valley and lakes in the south. Much of the region shares isolating factors such as the Sahara Desert in the north and the rain forests of the south and west.

Q25. How might physical geography affect education? Africa has the largest diversity in languages and culture of any continent on the planet. Implementing education across tribal boundaries can be a challenge. In the north, herding lifestyles mean that families are on the move, which could present a problem with school attendance. The challenge in the south is dealing with the isolating effect of rugged terrain and diversity within communities.

Mo

du

le 1

: Le

sson

1

23


Q26. Do you see any challenges to providing school resources to these countries? Aid from outside requires sensitivity, particularly when working with schools. Tribalism is prevalent, so working with governments may not be the same as working in the field. Corruption arises wherever there is poverty, of which Africa has more than its share. (Note: The depth of response for the last two questions will depend largely on what you’ve already covered in class for this region. You may want to turn these questions into a discussion for the whole class as a wrap-up activity.)

The long distances some people travel to work in hub cities like Dallas, Texas, can be quickly visualized on a map showing

commuters by county.

25

Module 1: Lesson 2

The local traffic report

Lesson overviewStudents will use the Internet to acquire commuter data. By exploring this data through GIS, they will construct a thematic map for the United States that displays hub cities commuter data. Students will be able to compare commuter patterns in large metropolitan areas. Students will use the American Forest Climate Change Calculator to calculate CO

2 emissions caused by various size

automobiles and how many newly planted trees it would take to sequester those emissions.

Estimated timeTwo to three 45-minute class periods

MaterialsThe student worksheet files can be found on the Data and Resources CD. Install the teacher resources folder on your computer to access them.

Location: OurWorld3_teacher\Module1\Lesson2

• Student activity: M1L2_student.pdf• Student answer sheet: M1L2_student_answer_sheet.doc

ObjectivesThe student is able to do the following:

• Use GIS to map data downloaded from the Internet.• Compare large metropolitan areas’ commuter patterns.• Compute CO

2 emissions from commuters and the number of trees it would take to offset those

emissions.

GIS tools and functions• Locate data on the Internet and prepare it in Microsoft Excel • Join tables• Thematically map data and change classification and break values• Select a county according to a graphic

Mo

du

le 1

: Lesson 2

26


M L

National Geography Standards

Geography Standard High school

1 How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective

The student understands how to use geographic representations and tools to analyze, explain, and solve geographic problems

12 The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement

The student understands the evolving forms of present-day urban areas

18 How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future

The student understands how to use geographic knowledge, skills, and perspectives to analyze problems and make decisions

Teaching the lesson

Introducing the lesson Open a class discussion with the following prompts:

• The U.S. Census Bureau asks questions on the decennial (every ten years) census forms about U.S. residents’ commuting habits. The answers are compiled in their Journey to Work dataset.

• Individuals can download the data then use GIS to visualize how far the respondents commute to work.

• How far do the students think people will commute to work?

This student activity will require students to work independently with little guidance.

Student activityStudents should follow the guidelines to retrieve commuter data from the Internet. They will edit the data, add the data to ArcMap, and export the data to a geodatabase table. After they acquire the data, they will add additional hub city data prepared for them to create thematic maps that display several cities’ commuter patterns. The students will compare the maps to find the number and percentage of commuters who commute from outside a 22-mile radius of the hub cities. They will complete the lesson by computing CO

2 emissions for one average commuter and then determine

how many trees it would take to sequester these emissions.

Concluding the lessonEngage students in a discussion of the commuter patterns they discovered as they mapped different commuter locations. What commuting patterns did they see and were they the same for each county? Did some cities have a higher (or lower) percentage of commuters who drove more than the average of 22 miles to work? What do the students know about these cities from the thematic map and from outside knowledge? How might this data be useful in discussing other issues such as environmental impacts, highway improvement, and city planning?

Mo

du

le 1

: Le

sson

2

27


Extending the lessonChallenge the students to do the following:

• Download data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (called BEA) Web site for their own city and map that data using the same procedure described in the investigation. Have students compare the CO

2 emissions for their own city or town to the larger

metropolitan areas included with the project. If your students live in one of those cities, have them choose a smaller community of their choice to map and compare. In addition to the map, ask students to submit a written report that summarizes the reasoning they used in selecting additional comparison cities. A written report could answer any or all of the following questions:1. Does the size of a city affect its commuter patterns?2. Were they surprised at the results they got when they mapped their own city? Why or

why not?3. Does geographic placement of cities have an effect on commuter patterns? Why or why not?4. Determine other ways they can use the American Forest Climate Change Calculator to help

compute their own carbon footprint.• Choose a group of mid-size cities and small-size cities to map. Download commuter data for

these cities from the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site and perform the same analysis. Students should note any changes they see.

• Change the radius of their graphic circle to see if this affects the commuter patterns for the cities included in the exercise.

• Compute the average fuel cost for people who commute over 22 miles to work and extend that cost to the number of commuters for one of the cities.

• Visit the U.S. Department of Energy Web site at www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/ chapter1.html to get more information on greenhouse gases, climate change, and energy.

• Refer to the Resources by Module section of this book’s companion Web site (www.esri.com/ourworldgiseducation) for print, media, and Internet resources on the topics of employment data and demographics.

Mo

du

le 1

: Lesson 2

28


M L

Answer keyQ1. Where are the counties with a high number of commuters to Dallas County?

Most commuters come from the counties that are adjacent to Dallas County and decrease gradually the farther out from Dallas County you go. There are counties that are not adjacent to Dallas County in Texas that have a higher number of commuters (Houston, San Antonio, and Austin) as well as counties as far west as Maricopa (Phoenix) and Los Angeles.

Q2. Repeat steps 5.2–5.15 to complete the table on your worksheet. Choose the appropriate layer file for each hub.

Commuters by City

County Name

Hub City Total # of Commuters

Into Hub

# of Commuters

Within 22 Miles of

Hub

# of Commuters > 22 Miles

% Commuters >22 Miles

Commuters > 22 Miles

× Total Miles/Year

King Seattle 1,071,723 1,052,363 19,360 1.8 213 million

Los Angeles Los Angeles 4,012,743 3,644,905 367,838 9.2 4 billion

Denver Denver 431,957 422,643 9,314 2.2 102 million

Dallas Dallas 1,353,423 1,303,680 49,743 3.7 547 million

Cook Chicago 2,549,281 2,431,724 117,557 4.6 1.3 billion

Fulton Atlanta 714,021 659,524 64,497 7.6 709 million

New York New York 2,086,817 1,954,763 132,054 6.3 1.45 million

Q3. Which cities have the highest percentage of commuters from outside the 22-mile average commuting zone? Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York are the cities with the highest percentages of commuters greater than 22 miles.

Q4. Which cities have the lowest percentage of commuters from outside the 22-mile average commuting zone? Seattle, Denver, and Dallas are the cities with the lowest percentages of commuters greater than 22 miles.

Q5. Can you draw any conclusions from the map that might explain why a larger or smaller percentage of commuters might come from outside the 22-mile commuter zone in some cities versus other cities you mapped? Answers may vary but might include the fact the geographical location of cities within their states and within the United States. Some cities may also have well developed rapid transit systems (rail, bus, subway) providing ways for larger numbers of people to commute farther distances.

Q6. What do you know about these hub cities that might explain the difference in commuter patterns? Students should know that New York has a well developed rapid transit system (subways) and perhaps that the East Coast in general has an accessible, convenient Amtrak train system that serves New York. Los Angeles does have a commuter rail system but has a vast freeway system that brings commuters in from great distances. Students may have knowledge of the other hub cities from personal experience or where they live.

Q7. Is there anything in the mapping procedure that might understate or overstate the actual numbers of commuters who are in or out of the 22-mile commuter zone? The buffer circle will select any county that it touches and some counties are very large and/or irregular

Mo

du

le 1

: Le

sson

2

29


in shape. The selected counties do not stop at 22 miles but may extend many miles beyond the 22-mile average. Due to this factor, in most cases, the amount of commuters who travel farther than the 22-mile average will be much larger than computed on the worksheet.

Q8. Write these Climate Change Calculator variables on your worksheet.

Vehicle Data

Vehicle Type Miles/Year Avg. Miles Per Gallon

Total Gas Used Gallons Per

Year

CO2 Emission Pounds Per

Year

Trees Needed

Compact 11,000 25.2 436.5 8,747.7 13.1

Sport Utility 11,000 18.8 585.1 11,659.4 17.4

Q9. How many trees will it take to capture or sequester the amount of CO2 emitted by a

compact car driven the average of 22 miles one way to work (or approximately 11,000 miles annually)? 13.1

Q10. Calculate the same values for a sport utility vehicle driving 11,000 annually. 17.4

Q11. If a person with an average commute of 11,000 miles (22 miles one way to work) uses a compact car that emits approximately 8,750 pounds of CO

2, what is the impact of the

people who commute just three miles over the average (25 miles one way to work)?

Roundtrip Miles per Day Work Days per Year Total Miles per Year (Miles/Day × Annual Days)

50 250 15,000

Vehicle Type Miles/Year Avg. Miles Per Gallon

Total Gas Used Gallons Per

Year

CO2 Emission Pounds Per

Year

Trees Needed

Compact 15,000 25.2 595.2 11,857 17.7

Q12. Using what you have learned in this lesson and in class, write a short paragraph that describes some ways you can think of to lower the impact of commuting to the workplace? Student answers will vary but students should think of some of the following methods of lowering the impact of commuting:

1. Drive fuel efficient economy or hybrid cars.

2. Carpool with one or more other people, especially if a larger vehicle is driven.

3. Use rapid transit such as subways, trains, and buses.

4. Consider moving closer to work where feasible or start a telecommuting program.

5. Research and implement carbon emissions offsets such as planting trees.

Analyzing Our World Using GIS

Documents

Transcript of Analyzing Our World Using GIS